Non‐Random Mating in a Wild Radish, Raphanus sativus

Abstract

Abstract When mating is non‐random among several, compatible donors, the fitness of pollen donors, maternal plants, and offspring may be affected. Although this process may be important, it is much less studied than other forms of non‐random mating such as incompatibility and avoidance of inbreeding. Therefore, the amount and consequences of non‐random mating were investigated in greenhouse studies with wild radish, Raphanus sativus. Six compatible donors differed in the number, position, and weight of seeds sired, so mating was non‐random at the level of mate identity. Mate number also affected mating patterns; fruits with more fathers were allocated more resources. This keeps mate number per fruit high. In contrast, other processes appear to keep mate number below the maximum so that mate number per fruit is regulated at an intermediate level. Mate identity had clear consequences as offspring with different fathers were of different sizes after 11 weeks. The effects of mate number on offspring success were less clear. These and other data suggest that non‐random mating among compatible donors is a relatively common process in wild radish. It may occur through mechanisms controlled by the pollen tubes, the maternal plants or the embryos. While this non‐random mating is the raw maternal for sexual selection in plants, whether sexual selection actually occurs and how important it may be is still nuclear.